Home
by Lovingly Insane
Summary: Craig can't get the word out of his head. Home. He doesn't expect the only person that can cure him is...Tweek? creek


Craig walked soundlessly down the trail, hands in his pockets. His rough black hair fell restlessly over his eyes, crawling out of his hat. He was quiet, yes, but not thinking. Instead, his mind was blank. Only one word coursed through his mind.

_Home._

It was like a broken record, spinning round and round and round again.

_Home. _

He didn't fully understand why this strange word was repeating in his brain. He had woken up that morning without being able to function. All he heard, no, all he felt was one word.

_Home. _

He had been home, god damnit! He had sat on his bed and tried to stop the constant repetition. _"I am home!" _he had screamed, punching his wall.

_Home._

He couldn't focus or think about anything. He wrote the word in his notebook seven thousand, three hundred and sixty-seven times, using two sharpies and a black ballpoint pen until they were dry. This really bothered Craig; he was constantly angry today, flipping the bird more than usual. Craig didn't have control today, either. He'd punched Clyde in the face already, along with Kenny and Token, so he decided to take a walk. Alone.

_Home._

He didn't know where he was going. He let his feet guide him, hoping the word would just go the fuck away. Eventually, his feet stopped moving and he truly looked at his surroundings. A river. Not Stark's Pond, but a lonely little river on the edge of South Park. He sighed heavily and sat down next to it, listening to the word once more.

_Home. _

_Home. _

_Home._

_Home._

_Ho-_

"Augh!"

Craig's head shot up as a new voice entered the mix. He looked over his shoulder and saw an extremely frazzled boy to his right. His blonde mess of hair was shooting out everywhere, shadowing his face in the slightest. His large, coffee-and-creamer brown eyes were frazzled, lined by naturally dark smudges. Craig felt his eyebrow rise as he realized who it was. Tweek.

"C-craig! I d-didn't mean to- Ahh! – bother you. I-I'll be g-going…" He yelped again, trembling.

"Wait!" Craig was shocked at the sound of his own voice. Why was he stopping him? He then realized, as he heard the spazzy freak talk, the constant chanting in his brain had stopped.

Tweek stopped and turned, still trembling.

Craig whispered, "Stay."

Tweek obeyed and sat shakily down next to him, leaving a five foot distance between them. They sat in silence for a while, watching the river crawl by in the dark of the night. Craig turned to the other, sighing. "Why are you out this late at night?"

"I-I come here s-sometimes, when it's d-dark. It- Augh!- calms m-me down a bit." Tweek started shaking uncontrollably. He fumbled in his backpack, pulling out a thermos. With a swift movement, he hand the top yanked off and was gulping coffee.

Craig groaned as Tweek screeched. He had spilled a bit of the drink on his shirt because he couldn't get the top back on; his hands were shaking too much. "Chill the fuck out, spaz," Craig groaned, reaching out for the thermos. Tweek yelped and cowered, covering his face with his hands. Craig was confused. "Uh. I'm not gonna hit you, dude."

"But…I….Augh! Too much, too much!"

"Too muc-…what?"

"PRESSURE!" Tweek screamed, hyperventilating.

"Dude, chill the fuck out! Look at the river or something, okay?" Craig was never very good at being sympathetic. He yanked the thermos out of the spaz's hands and screwed the cap on properly. "There." He shoved it back into Tweek's hands. Craig basked in the delicious _silence _of his mind. It had been a long day.

Tweek stared at the boy next to him. He had a dark, angered look on his face almost everyday; it was noticeable. Craig was simply the badass; the guy that would do anything. He was being strangely nice to Tweek, and it was freaking him out. Why? He closed his eyes, shaking away the thought. Craig wasn't going to beat him up. He just needed to relax. He looked towards the river, watching it lap up and down around the rocks.

"The river," he murmured, "is the only thing that calms me. It's peaceful. Safe. It won't hurt me. I come here a lot, almost everyday. It won't…it won't hurt me. They can't hurt me." He buried his face in his knees, clinging to himself.

Craig was astonished. "You didn't stutter. That was an actual coherent sentence." Then he realized Tweek was still shaking. "Wait. Who's 'they'?"

"They can't hurt me by the river," he whispered again, "they can't. They won't."

"Tweek!" shouted Craig. Tweek's head popped up, his eyes bright and helpless. Craig took a deep breath. He couldn't let anyone hurt Tweek right now; he was the only thing that made the word go away. The only thing. "Who the hell is hurting you?"

"My…parents…" he whispered.

"Your pa-…" Craig stopped. He was neglected at home, but he wasn't abused. He looked down at Tweek. Abuse would be the answer to Tweek's nervousness.

"You're abused, aren't you?"

Tweek shuddered.

"Fuck. FUCK." Craig put his head in hid hands. "Shit. That's….fuck. What do they do?"

Tweek trembled harder, staring into Craig's eyes. Slowly, he lifted up his badly buttoned green shirt, revealing hundreds of bruises, cuts, and dents in his pale skin.

Craig was silent, his dark blue irises swallowing the pupils. He reached one hand out, carefully, and traced a long like from Tweek's breastbone to the end of his ribcage. Knife. A large, blossoming bruise was under his right shoulder blade. Fist. Ten long, skinny lines with thin spaces in between them coated his throat. Strangling. Hundreds more lie on his stomach.

"Tweek..." Craig was breathless.

The smaller, frightened boy slowly put his shirt down, his eyes never leaving Craig's.

"T-they…I-I…" Craig, rough and ruthless badass and known druggie of South Park High School, wrapped his arms around Tweek. "C-Craig?"

He backed off. "Yeah?"

"I'm home, too."

Craig's eyes widened, and his voice was quiet as he stared at him. "How did you know?"

Tweek smiled slightly, the trembling ceasing. "When I walked up, you were whispering the word 'home' over and over again. When I tried to leave, you started again. It happened to me too."

"Fuck," Craig whispered. He must've looked nuts all day. He looked up at Tweek again, but this time, seeing something else in his eyes. Craig touched his sunken in, pale cheek and kissed him.

"Home."

_I'm home._


End file.
